The Bountiful Temple is the eighth temple constructed in the state of Utah. The history of this temple site began back in 1897, when John Haven Barlow Sr. purchased 40 acres (160,000 m2) of land from the United States government. Because of lack of water and the steep terrain, little could be done with the land. In 1947 some of the land was cleared and four hundred apricot trees were planted. In the spring of 1983, flash flooding caused a great deal of damage in Bountiful, resulting in the decision to build a dam across the canyon to limit the flow of water during heavy rainstorms. The city requested the use of the soil from the future temple site, so construction crews removed over two hundred thousand cubic yards of soil, leaving the area an ideal spot on which the LDS temple would later be built.[1]

After considering numerous sites for the temple, the final decision was made on April 3, 1988 by the LDS Church First Presidency. Four years later, on May 2, 1992, the groundbreaking took place and on January 8, 1995 LDS Church presidentHoward W. Hunter dedicated the Bountiful Utah Temple. Two hundred thousand Latter-day Saints attended the dedicatory sessions, more than had ever previously attended a temple dedication.

The Bountiful Utah Temple has a total of 104,000 square feet (9,700 m2), four ordinance rooms, and eight sealing rooms.